Monday, November 30, 2009

Eldar vs Crimson Fists - 1750

Seize Ground

4 Objectives and a mean Crimson Fists force led by Pedro Kantor himself. A Dreadnaught, 2 units of Devastators, a Landraider, Predator, Terminators, 3 Rhinos and 4 squads of marines. I'm using my old favourite Brightlance themed list, hoping to knock out those transports and mop up the remnants, while my Waveserpents and Jetbikes move in to claim and contest. I've placed one counter in cover to my left, and another out in the open, to hopefully lure my enemy out of cover and into my clutches...My opponent goes first, and i've deployed my Waveserpents on one flank out of LoS of my opponent's Devastators. The Dreadnaught is the only thing that manages a hit, but luckily it proves ineffective. I hold my Jetbikes in reserve, hoping to steal some last turn objectives and ready my Scatter laser Walkers for an outflank, with a crazy 24 str 6 shots! My 3 Waveserpents move flat out towards the two objectives closest to my deployment zone, giving up the chance to fire 3 twin-linked Brightlances for the safety of a cover save. This pays off when I make all my cover saves in the enemy shooting phase.

By the turn 2, the Crimson Fists are in Control of 3 Objectives, while Eldar control 1, via a Waveserpent with Dire Avengers embarked. My Outflank did not go as planned, and I arrived at wrong table edge, with minimal targets for the 6 Scatter lasers thanks to intervening Buildings. However, the Scatter lasers manage to destroy a nearby Rhino, forcing the Marine passengers to jump out into the line of fire. One Waveserpent is taken down from combined fire from tactical marines and a Dreadnought. The Dire Avengers pass their pinning checks and proceed to wipe out a unit of Assault Marines in a two-turn Bladestorm and assault combo. Aided by two Wraithlords, they also manage to wipe out another squad of marines in the following turn.

One of my Wraithlords manages to explode a Rhino that contests the Objective in my deployment zone with a Brightlance/Missile Launcher combo. The remaining marines inside are pinned, but in subsequent combat, 1 brave marine manages to immobilise a nearby Waveserpent, which then crashes to the ground (should have bought Vectored engines!). My Banshees, are forced to disembark, but they manage cut down the marines and consolidate into cover.

Turn 3, the Marines are steadily pushing forward, with scouts going to ground to claim another objective. My opponent moves his landraider forward, and hops out his Assault Terminators led by Pedro Kantor. They nearly manage to wipe out the Avenger Squad, who hold fast to contest an Objective thanks to ld 9.

Turn 4 sees a squad of Dire Avengers and cowardly Fareer run off the table, but not before they perform a valiant round of shooting aided by the Walkers' Scatter lasers to wipe out the Terminators, leaving Pedro on 2 wounds until he is crushed by a Wraithlord in assault.

Turn 5, and the Eldar kick things into gear. The Scouts, who have gone to ground at an objective in the marine deployment zone are flamed to death by a Wraithlord leaving it unclaimed. The second Wraithlord assaults and destroys the Dreadnought, in an epic struggle captured below:

By the end of the game, my Banshees camp on 1 objective, and my Avengers sit on another, holding fast despite heavy casualties. A Wraithlord camps at a distant objective, and my Jetbikes move in to claim another.

Eldar - 2Crimson Fists - 0

Reflections...Looking back, I'm glad that I had sufficient anti-tank capabilities, with my Waveserpents and Wraithlords steadily firing every turn to make sure I forced all embarked marines out of their transports and into the fray. My plan was simple: wait for the marines to push towards my deployment zone, pop the lighter transports to force the marines inside to come out, and whittle them down with sheer volume of fire to allow my fast units to claim and contest objectives.

The low point of the game was my Farseer fleeing off the table, meaning I had to rely on sheer luck to pass my Wraithsight tests on both Wraithlords, but thankfully, I did just that. Next time, I don't expect the Dice Gods to be so gracious...

Yet again, I owe my Jetbikes a debt of gratitude. After staying behind cover for the majority of the game, they gleefully zoomed past all obstacles to secure a last turn Objective. I can't tell Eldar players enough: Jetbikes can be a golden ticket to victory, especially in objective-based games. I always take at least 6, any less and you're likely to pay when you have to roll those morale checks at ld 8. Every time I see lists online with units of 3, a little part of me dies. But that's a rant for another day...